Chapter 48
“You’re the best thing that happened to me, too.” Stephanie said, holding Court’s gaze. Her words touched her deeply.
Stephanie’s mom cleared her throat again as if they were going to kiss or something, which might have happened if she hadn’t reminded them they were not alone. Kissing Court was second nature to her now, and she didn’t like that her parents made her feel uncomfortable with it.
Her mom straightened her silverware and turned to Court. “Stephanie says you are in finance now. That you even have your own little company?”
“She’s correct. I'm a financial advisor. It’s what I went to college for,” Court leaned back, when she was talking finance she had the confidence she didn’t have when she was talking about herself and her past, “My friend and I created our own firm a few years ago.”
“That isn’t a risk I would have advised you to take.
The big boys take all the big money, and the little guys are left fighting over the scraps.
Startups are a risk that isn’t for everyone.
” Calvin stated as if he knew anything about finance.
He had worked in an office at a transportation company for years.
Nothing even close to what Court was involved in.
Marlene, beside him, just nodded in agreement with her husband, as if she was just starting the company instead of years into it with a steady clientele.
Stephanie couldn’t say what they did exactly, but knew that they were successful.
And from what she’d heard from clients that went to her gym, getting more successful all the time.
Court shifted in her seat and explained, “I don’t see it so cut and dried.
Rebel and I focus on minority companies that the big boys won’t even look at.
We try to take them from the ground up. With the right investing, we can usually turn the little guys into big guys in a few years.
We enjoy the work, and we’re getting bigger all the time. ”
“And take up all your time. Like Stephanie’s gym,” Marlene insisted, even if she had always been impressed with any man she’d dated who had a good job that had long hours. That was a sign that he was going places. But for Court as a woman, it was over working.
Instead of taking it as a dig, she turned to her stepmom.
“My partner and I made a promise when we opened our company that we wouldn’t spend more than fifty hours at the office a week.
And that includes our employees. We want them to have a life outside of work so that when they are at work, they can focus on their jobs.
Which is completely different from what Stephanie’s doing, because she doesn’t have the employees like we do. She and Jordan are doing it all.”
“You think we are working too hard?” Breaking from the united front, she asked Court.
Over the last weeks, she had hated that she couldn’t focus on them and the house more. But Court never got upset that she wasn’t there. That she had to work when she was supposed to have off or even when she had to stay late.
Court tucked a dark curl behind her ear.
“No, you’re doing exactly what you need to be doing right now.
It’s the same thing I was doing four years ago.
I know it’ll pass. Do I miss you? Yes, but I know your companies important to you as mine is to me.
That you have to put the work in to make it a success.
One day, when it’s successful, we’ll have the time for everything we want to do now. ”
Marlene saw her opening and pounced. “If you two think this is going to last, how long do you think you can put up with her hours? She could get a better job and have better hours. Isn’t she getting too old for this gym stuff?”
Sitting up, Court turned back to her. “This gym stuff, as you call it, is her passion. And because of that, she’s excelling at it.
Sure, it takes her time, but if she’s happy, she can do anything.
What’s important is that I get to go to bed with her at the end of the day, and wake up with her in the morning, which is enough. ”
Stephanie’s heart swelled at the words, it was how she saw it too. She wanted every moment she could get with Court, even if those moments were stolen and short. But knowing that Court knew her first priority was the gym made her feel better about being there too much.
“At your apartment, Stephanie?” Marlene asked innocently, reminding them all that she had accused Court of sponging off her the last time they were together.
“Our place, actually. We moved in together.” Stephanie told them, then held her breath for the anger she knew would follow.
But instead of lashing out, both parents sat silently before giving each other a look. One that said they were disappointed in her. One she had seen far too many times in her life.
“That will make breaking up sticky.” Calvin looked nervous about the situation, as if separating their lives would be the worst part of a potential breakup. Stephanie had no idea how she’d breathe if Court left her.
Scooting closer to her girlfriend, she said, “No, because that won’t happen.
This might be new to some people, but to us it’s like we’ve been waiting to find each other for a long time.
When we finally ran into each other, it was already over.
I was drawn to Court like a magnet, and I couldn’t stop us from being one. ”
“What kind of place did you move into? That apartment of yours was in a bad neighborhood and so small. Can you afford anything better with Court self-employed also?” Calvin broke the tension between her and her mom.
“A house, just a three bed, two bath, but we are slowly making it ours.” Court answered him, ignoring Marlene.
“What do you mean, in a bad neighborhood? My gym’s in that neighborhood?” Stephanie demanded.
“We just always worried about you being downtown.”
“We’re still close to downtown.” Court answered smoothly, “In a little up-and-coming neighborhood. There’s a park nearby.”
“Three bedrooms isn’t very big,” Marlene said, even if it was more than enough for two people.
Stephanie glared at her mom as Court said more about the house. “Big enough. We’re doing some renovations to make it ours. We just started, but hope it won’t take long.”
“Renovations always take longer than expected. Are you hiring someone?” Calvin asked. He had always done the repairs around the house. Not well and in the end, it usually required a call to a professional, but he liked to try his hand at it first.
Court smirked. “I’m trying not to. Right now, I want to prove to myself that I can do it. I don’t even know why. When we bought the place, I didn’t even own a hammer. Now I own a skill saw, which takes skill to actually use.”
Calvin laughed at her joke. “I gave mine away years ago, never got that skill.”
“I’m getting there.” Court was far more stubborn than he was, she wouldn’t admit she wasn’t good at something. And that included home remodeling.
“If you need help, you can call. Not that I’ll be much help, but for moral support.” Calvin offered, surprising everyone at the table, mostly his wife, who huffed, but said nothing about the offer.
“Maybe I will,” Court said, and Stephanie hoped that Court would call him. And she also hoped that her mom wouldn’t get in the way of any relationship the two could have.
Marlene stabbed at her lettuce as she asked, “Are you thinking about colors yet?”
“We already bought all the paint for the entire house. Stephanie went a little overboard at the hardware store even before we moved in.” Court teased her, as she had many times since that day.
“Because you said we need them all to match, it was the only way to guarantee they would. Mostly, it’s going to be creamy eggnog.”
“White, and we paid extra for white paint.” Court told the other couple.
Stephanie glared at her. “Tell me it doesn’t look amazing.”
Court turned her chin, so they were eye to eye. “It’s simply gorgeous, and you are simply the center of all my dreams. In eggnog.”
“Creamy eggnog,” she corrected breathlessly, as if it was the first time she had seen her. Only this time she wasn’t going to wake up without her, never again.